


No Secrets Among Friends

by csichick_2



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-15 08:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7215031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/csichick_2/pseuds/csichick_2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By telling her what Hydra had done to Bucky, Sharon gives Natasha the nudge she needs to make a move with Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flipflop_diva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/gifts).



Natasha frowns when she spies Steve across the quad. She knows that he sometimes has trouble adjusting to his new reality, but this is the first time she’s ever seen him look as though he’s on the verge of tears. Emotional conversations aren’t her strong point – nor are they Steve’s – so instead of going to talking to him, Natasha does the next best thing by hunting down Sharon. She and Steve have been talking a lot lately, so she should have some insight into Steve’s mood. And if she’s the reason that he’s so upset, well Natasha has ways to deal with that.

“What happened to Cap? I’ve never really seen him upset like that…” she says when she finds the other girl.

“He found out Winter Soldier is actually his best friend, and that he’s been brainwashed by Hydra. Then he found out that if he moves away from Red Skull, he’ll die,” Sharon replies, also clearly upset by this news.

Natasha swears under her breath. She knew Hydra was up to some shady shit, but this is a whole new level. “I’ve been thinking that this is more than an attack,” she says carefully. “The way the Hydra thugs just mill around, and the bosses refuse to leave the platform. I think it’s just a big distraction, but for what?”

“Let’s find out,” Sharon responds, a sparkle in her eye at the prospect of doing spy work.

Finding Hydra’s energy detectors and figuring out what their purpose was served as a good distraction, but Natasha still couldn’t help but think about Steve. And the Winter Soldier – or rather Bucky Barnes, now that they have a name behind the identity. Steve has never talked about his life before the Academy, but he also doesn’t have to. Far too much of it is in the public record – though Natasha also knows that’s less than fully accurate. But the one thing that she’s fairly certain they got right is that Steve and Bucky were as close as brothers. Clearly they need to rescue Bucky from Hydra, but she doesn’t know how to get around the whole ‘if he moves away from Red Skull, he’ll die’ thing.

“Do you think killing Red Skull will cancel out whatever he did to Bucky?” Natasha asks Sharon a couple days later.

“It might,” Sharon replies, biting her lip. “Or it might kill him too. Not something we want to risk until we know more.”

Natasha sighs. “It just kills me to see Steve so upset. Especially since I don’t have any answers on how to fix it.”

“Just knowing you’re there for him might help,” Sharon replies.

“I don’t do emotional stuff,” Natasha says quickly – almost too quickly. “And neither does Steve.”

Sharon rolls her eyes. “You’re almost as obvious as he is.”

“Excuse me?” Natasha asks, fixing Sharon with a look.

“It’s obvious to everyone but the two of you that you’re into each other,” Sharon says with a small smirk.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Natasha says, schooling her features to hide her lie. “Besides aren’t you constantly flirting with him?”

“What’s a little harmless flirting between friends?” Sharon replies playfully. “And I will give you points for being a far better liar than Steve.”

“Oh my god, he’s the worst,” Natasha concurs. “He wouldn’t last a day as a spy.”

“That’s how I know that when he said that the two of you were just teammates, it was a big fat lie,” Sharon says simply.

Natasha’s eyes widen – she had thought her feelings for Steve were one-sided which was why she spent so much time hiding them. “If you’re messing with me, I will end you,” she says warningly.

“I don’t mess around when it comes to matters of the heart,” Sharon responds. “Go talk to him. Even if it isn’t about Bucky. Or feelings.”


	2. Chapter 2

Natasha decides to take Sharon’s advice and talk to Steve, though she has no idea what to say until she finds him glaring at the statue placed between the ones of Howard Stark and Peggy Carter - the statue of his previous life. “You know if you let Tony think it was his idea, I’m sure he has several ways he can make that statue less offensive to you,” she says as he comes to stand next to him.

Steve snorts. “I’m surprised he hasn’t destroyed it yet.”

“Tony may be an asshole, but he’s not that much of an asshole,” she replies. “Why else do you think I haven’t killed him yet?”

“I’ve missed you,” Steve says softly. “This whole thing… it’s gotten out of hand.”

“Some part of Tony knows that too,” Natasha says just as softly, not wanting to ruin the moment. “But he’s Tony, so he’s not about to admit that.”

“So it’s up to me to end it then?” Steve asks.

“Oh god no,” Natasha says. “That would make his ego uncontrollable.”

Steve looks over at her. “What then?”

“Let Sharon and I handle that. She’s almost sneaky as me,” Natasha replies, pausing before continuing. “She told me about Bucky” she adds hesitantly. “T’Challa and I have been helping her try and figure out how to free him without harming him.”

She wasn’t sure what she expected Steve’s reaction to be, but she definitely wasn’t expecting him to hug her tightly. “Thank you,” he murmurs.

“That’s what friends are for,” she replies and then immediately notices the shift in his body language.

“Yeah, I guess,” he says awkwardly as he ends the hug and sticks his hands in his pockets.

Natasha thinks back to what Sharon had told her and decides that it’s now or never. “I doubt you’re feeling up to it right now, but maybe after all this is over, we could go dancing.”

“I’d like that,” Steve says quietly.

“It’s a date,” she replies. And when Steve smiles for the first time since he learned the truth about Bucky, she can’t help but rise onto her tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek.


End file.
